‘Miss Saigon’ benefit for National Asian Artists Project at The Green Room 42. (Photo courtesy of Green Fig Management via The Broadway Blog.)
By Ryan Leeds
Ensembles don’t often have a chance to shine in the spotlight, but thanks to Tony Award winner Baayork Lee, the cast of Broadway’s Miss Saigon flexed their vocal muscles this past Sunday night at The Green Room 42.
The new midtown cabaret space played host to many cast members from the current revival, all of whom were there to raise money for the National Asian Artists Project (NAAP), a New York based organization that highlights Asian-American theater artists. Lee is one of the co-founders of the non-profit, along with Steven Eng and Nina Zoie Lam.
Devin Ilaw (Photo courtesy of Green Fig Management via The Broadway Blog.)
Alan Ariano, who starred in the original Broadway production of Miss Saigon, served as the night’s emcee. Kimberly-Ann Truong appropriately opened the evening with the 1946 pop standard, “Sunday Kind of Love.” Paul Miller continued in the same vein with “Zing! Went the Strings of My Heart.” Nkrumah Gatling delivered a uniquely sweet acoustic guitar interpretation of Al Green’s “Let’s Stay Together.”
Devin Ilaw, who portrays the role of Thuy, accompanied Anna-Lee Wright for a beautiful rendition of “Migratory V” from theater composer Adam Guettel. Ilaw later closed the evening with an ambitious selection: “Soliloquy” from Carousel. Nailed it!
Other highlights from the evening included Lina Lee’s contemporary pop version of Kelly Clarkson’s “Piece by Piece” and an original country tune, “Just Another Love Song” written and performed by Graham Scott Fleming.
Coming Up at The Green Room 42:
Show/Swap, presented by Telly Leung and Billy Bustamante, will feature the current Broadway casts of Aladdin and Miss Saigon on Sunday, August 20. The two Broadway companies will come together for one night only to swap songs, sing show tunes, and raise money for a friend in need. The cast of Miss Saigon will tackle songs by Alan Menken, and the cast of Disney’s Aladdin will belt out the hit tunes of Boublil & Schönberg. Expect to hear hits from Miss Saigon, Aladdin, Les Miserables, Little Shop of Horrors, The Little Mermaid, and more.
The performers scheduled to appear include Telly Leung, Jon Jon Briones, Courtney Reed, Don Darryl Rivera,Katie Rose Clarke, Devin Ilaw, Brian Gonzalez, Deonte L. Warren, Juwan Crawley, Tia Altinay, Katie Terza, Lauryn Ciardullo, Trent Saunders,Angelo Soriano, Mike Cannon, Kathryn Allison, Elias Ruperto, and more.
All proceeds will go towards the medical expenses for Jonathan Wotell, husband of Adam Kaokept (original cast of Aladdin; currently in Miss Saigon) who was paralyzed in a hit-and-run incident. For more information on how you can help, go to https://www.youcaring.com/adamkaokept-875127
